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J. ALEXANDER.

REFRIGERATOR.

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J'. ALEXANDER.

REFRIGERATOR.

No. 285,199. Patented Sept. 18, 1888.

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1 JOHN ALEXANDER, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

REFRIGERATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 285,199, datedSeptember 18, 1883.

Application filed May8,1883. (No model.) v

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, JOHN ALEXANDER, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, residing at the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in theProvince of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, haveinvented certain new anduseful Improvements in Refrigerators, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to that'class of refrigerators in which an openpassage-way exists between the ice-chamber and provision-chamber,separate fiues for the escape of the warmairfromtheprovision-chamberbeingprovided; and the object of theinvention is to construct a perfectlyyentilated refrigerator, theprovision-chamber of which shall be absolutely dry.

It consists, first, in a rectangular hole through the bottom of theice-chamber leading into the provision-chamber, and provided with adetachable cover resting on triangular supports placed at either end ofthe rectangular hole, so as to leave a space between the bottom and theedges of the cover for the free passage of the cold air, the triangularsupports having grooves running from their apex to their base, whichgrooves connect with grooves made in the bottom on either side of thehole and connecting with an escape pipe, as hereinafter -n1oreparticularly explained; secondly, in a ceiling to the provisionchamberslanting from the inner edges of the warm-air fiues toward therectangular hole leading into the ice-chamber, the placing on the saidceiling, at either side of the hole, of strips extending longitudinallyalong the edges of the hole below the ceiling, so as to form a cushionto separate the warm air accumulating at the ceiling of theprovision-chamber from the cold air desce'nding throughthe hole;thirdly, in providing an auxiliary cold-air passage made at the back ofthe icechamber at right angles to the warmair fiues, and protected by astrip projecting below the ceiling of the provision-chamber along theedge of the said auxiliary cold-air passage, so as to form a cushion toseparate the warm air accumulated at the ceiling from the cold airdescending through the auxiliary cold-air passage; fourthly, inproviding a refrigerator having a rectangular hole in the icechamberprotected by a slanting cover supported as described, an ice-rackarranged to support the ice above the bottom of the icechamber, andiceracks aroundthe sides of the ice-chamber, so as to keep the ice clearof the sides and leave side passages between the ice and sides of thechamber leading into the airchamber formed between the bottom ice-rackand the bottom of the ice-chamber; fifthly, in providing a refrigeratorhaving an opening between the ice-chamber and provision-chamber, with awarm-air flue or fiues leading from the ceiling of the provision-chamberat a point above the cold air to a point at or about the top of theice-chamber, from which point the air is permitted to escape throughahole made in the outer skin of the refrigerator; sixthly, in providingthe warm-air fiues, constructed as stated,with an adjustable dampercovering an opening leading intov the ice-chamber for the purpose ofadmitting, if desired, the warm air from the flue into the icechamber;seventhly, in providing a refrigerator having an open a of theice-chamber for the purposeof supplying fresh air to the refrigerator.

Figure 1 is a sectional front view of my improved refrigerator. Fig. 2is a cross-section of the same. my improved refrigerator with the top,front, and one end of the ice-chamber removed. As my invention relatesto a class of refrigerators the construction of which is now wellunderstood, it will not be necessary in this specification to'describein detail the principle upon which they are constructed. I shall,therefore, merely confine myself to the parts constituting myimprovements. I may, however, state that A is the ice-chamber, and B theprovision-chamber,separatedby theboards O, which slant from the inneredge of the warm-air flue D, formed at each end of the ice-chamber,toward the rectangular hole E, which constitutes an opening between thetwo chambers A and B.

Inorder to prevent the. drippings from the melting ice falling intotheprovision-chamber, I provide a cover, F, which is arched or hipped, .asshown, and rests upon the triangular supports G, placed at either end ofthe hole E. These supports G carry the cover F, so as to leave a clearopen space between the Fig. 3 is a perspective view of boards 0 and theedges of the cover, 'in order through the hole N, made through the outerthat the cold air in the ice-chamber maypass freely through the hole Einto the provisionchamber.

a are grooves or channels made in the outer top edges ofthetriangularsupportsG, leading from their apex to their base, and con-'necting with similar grooves or channels, I), made, as shown, in thestrips H. These latter grooves connect with the escape-pipe d,whichcarries away the water collected in the grooves a and b.

H are strips placed one on each side of they hole E, and projectingbelow the ceiling of the provision-chamber formed by the boards 0.These'boards, as before mentioned, slant toward the "warmair flues,which slanting'directs any warm air which may accumulate at the ceilingof g the provision-chamber toward the warm air 'flu'es D, while thestrips H- form, as it were, air'cushions "to'Separate the warm air atthe oeiling fromthe cold air descending through thehole I is'astripplaced near the back of the refrigerator and projectingbelow theceiling of the provision chamber. This strip I forms the inside wall ofthe auxiliary cold-air 'passage I, which cold-air-passage isat rightangles to thewarm-airflues 'D, and leads from the bottom of theice-rackJ in theice-chamber to a "point below the level of the opening of thewarm-air flue. The strip I in projecting-below the ceiling forms acushion to separate the warm aircollected at thetop of the ceiling fromthe cold air entering through the cold-air passage J. The stripsH and Itherefore prevent thecondensationwhich would otherwise take place werethe two currents not separated by the cushions formed by the saidstrips.

J is a horizontal rack resting on and supported by the shelves JTheseshelves hold the rack above the boards Oyso as to-leave anair-space between thesaid bottom'and the ice carried by the rack.

Kare side racks extending from the top of the shelves J to the top ofthe icechamber A. These racks keep the ice clear from the sides of therefrigerator, leaving open spaces for the passage of the air down to thechamber formedbetween theboards G and rack J. It is therefore possiblein my refrigerator to pack the ice-chamber tight, whilethe circulationwillstill be maintained. A

It will be noticed on referenceto the drawings that the warm-air flues Dextend up to a point near the top of the ice-chamber, thus separatedfrom the said ice-chamber by the wall L. A series of holes are madethrough the wall L, communicating with the flue D. These holes areprovided with a damper, M, so that the communication between the flue Dand the exterior ofthe ice-chamber can be completely out off 5 or theholes may be opened, so as to admit the air from the flue into theice-chamber. Vhen the dampers are closed, the warm air ascending theflues D will escape skin of the refrigerator.

0 is a hole made in the top of the ice-chamber,through which fresh airis admitted. WVhen the dampers M are closed, the fresh air admitted intothe ice-chamber passes through the cold-air passages before mentionedinto the provision-chamber B, thence up through the flues D, and out ofthe holes N. \Vhen the dampers M are open, a portion of the fresh air inthe flues D will reenter the chamber A, and if theholes' N are closed bya damper all the air will re-enter the chamber A, so that completecirculation will be maintained; but I think it will generally be foundpreferable to permit the air to escape out of the refrigera tor after ithas passed once through the icechamber.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a refrigerator having arectangular hole through the bottom of the ice-chamber leading into theprovision chamber, two grooves or channels made in the bottom, one oneach side of the rectangular hole and connected to an escapepipe, andtwo triangular supports, one at each end of the hole, grooves being madein the supports leading from their apex to the side grooves, incombination with a detachable cover arranged to fit and rest on thetriangular supports and protect the provision-chamber from moisture,while permitting the free downward current of the cold air.

2. In a refrigerator having a hole made in the bottom of the ice-chamberleading into the provision-chamber for the passage of the cold air, andseparate flues for the escape of the warm air accumulating at theceiling of the provisionchamber, the combination of two strips placedone on each side of the hole and extending below the bottom into theprovision chamber, thereby forming cushions to separate-the warm air atthe ceiling of the provision-chamber from the cold' airdescending intoit from the'ice-chamber.

3. 'In a refrigerator in which a central opening connects theice-chamber with the provision-chamber, and having cold-air passagesseparate from the warm-airflues, and in which the ceiling of theprovision-chamber slants from the mouth of the warm-air flue toward thesaid center opening, a cold air passage leading from the bottom of theicechamber into the provision-chamber at right angles to the warm-airflues, in combination with a strip extending along the side of the saidcold-air passage below the ceiling of the provision chamber for thepurpose of forming air-cushions to separate the warm air at the ceilingof the provisionchamber from the cold air descending through the saidpassage.

4. A refrigerator having an ice-chamber lo-' cated in the upper portionof the main boX andseparated from the provision-chamber by a partitioninclining inward, and having central cold-air channel, and having alsoawarmair chamber leading from the PTOVlSIlOHzCllZhDlber, racks, as J K,adapted to prevent con I tact of the ice with the closed partition L andmeans for connecting or separating said warmair chamber and ice-chamberat will, as and for the purposes set forth.

5 5. In a refrigerator having a Warm-air flue leading from the ceilingof the provisionchamber to a hole through the outer skin of therefrigerator at a point near the top of the ice-chamber, the combinationof an adjustable damper placed in the partition between the 10ice-chamber and flue for the purpose of regulating the admission of thewarm air from the flue into the ice-chamber, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

JOHN ALEXANDER,

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. BALDWIN, DONALD O. RIDOUT.

